


rumour has it

by plalligator



Category: The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner
Genre: F/M, Gossip, M/M, Misunderstandings, Secret Relationship, its a sex thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-13
Updated: 2016-06-13
Packaged: 2018-07-14 18:09:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7184699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plalligator/pseuds/plalligator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Costis, what in the name of the gods happened? I have heard from five separate people that you have a secret sweetheart who you went to meet on your day off.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	rumour has it

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pageleaf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pageleaf/gifts).



> for pageleaf, who wanted something tropey with costis and eugenides/costis/attolia ot3. i did my best to combine the two.

It started, in retrospect, with a completely innocent question. 

No, that was misleading. Coming from the king, there were no innocent questions. Only trickery and deception.

Also, if it weren't for the king, it may have gone entirely unnoticed. Unfortunately, he chose to bring it up at an inopportune moment, in front of half his attendants and several accompanying members of the guard. 

"Costis, you have a day off soon, do you not?" 

"Yes, my king."

"Well, I suppose you have earned it," said the king in the tone of voice of someone who wasn't quite sure. "What are your plans?"

Through some miracle, Costis managed to keep his tone level. 

"I had supposed to visit the city, my king."

"And what shall you do there? Indulge in drunkenness and debauchery, no doubt." His voice was now quite loud enough to ensure that everyone in the room could hear him. 

"Certainly not," said Costis, wondering what he did to deserve this. The king's eyes were twinkling. 

Thankfully, at that point one of the attendants intervened, breaking in with a gentle cough to remind the king he was awaited in the throne room. He probably figured to save Costis any further embarrassment. The king made a face and dropped the subject, sweeping out of the room with Costis and attendants in tow. 

::

On the morning of his day off, Costis woke early and dressed in a plain tunic. He made a point of wishing Aris well as he slung a leather pack over his shoulder and made his way out of the palace. Several members of the guard saw him leave. 

In town, he made for the market, where he spent a pleasant hour or so wandering about the stalls. He bought a pomegranate and ate it sitting in the shade of a market stall, sucking the juice off his fingers. He looked at some handsomely made knives at an armorer's booth, and considered buying a trinket to send home to Thalia. As the sun sank lower in the sky, he shouldered his pack and set off back toward the palace. 

::

He got back to his quarters in the early hours of the next morning. This was not uncommon for guards on their day off, if they wished to drink in the wine shops till late. He changed into his armor and went to morning practice as usual. For once, the king was not there, for which Costis was somewhat grateful. There was no doubting that practices with the king were...edifying, but it also tended to demand twice the energy of a normal practice, and Costis was tired enough. 

The guard dispersed to bathe and dress afterward. Costis scrubbed himself quickly and made his painful way to the steam room, sinking gratefully onto the benches and closing his eyes. The rest of the guard filtered in in ones and twos, laughing and talking.

"Have a good day off, Costis?" 

Costis’s eyes flew open. The speaker was a guard from Aris’s unit. His remark was accompanied by laughter.

“Yes…?” he said, cautiously, feeling as if he were on the end of a joke.

There was another round of laughter.

"I'll say he did," said another guard. "He didn't get those marks from sword training." 

Costis flushed, alerted the source of their amusement. He looked down at himself and saw nothing particularly obvious. 

“Your neck,” said another guard, and indicated the spot on himself, at the juncture between shoulder and neck. 

Costis lifted a hand, and his questing fingers found a sore spot located where he himself wouldn’t be able to see it even by craning his neck. 

Costis knew as firmly as he knew his own name that the location wasn’t an accident. It was a display. He had to bite his lip against a wave of feverish heat that didn’t come from the steam room. He almost didn’t hear the stream of comments and whistles directed at him.

"Congratulations, Costis! I didn't think you had it in you."

"Costis got a sweetheart! What's she like, Costis?" 

Costis got up so hastily that his head spun with dizziness from the heat. 

“I should go,” he said hastily, cheeks burning. “The king will be expecting me.”  
Laughter followed him on the way out. 

::

The king glanced toward him as he entered the chamber, glanced away, and then did an elaborate double take. 

"Costis," he said gleefully, in a loud enough voice that all the attendants were certainly listening, and Costis blanched. He knew was was coming. It was impossible to keep secrets from the king. "I admit I didn't really expect you to go for drunkenness and debauchery, but you've exceeded my expectations!" 

He reached out his good hand and actually touched the mark on Costis’s neck. It was a fleeting touch, but the brief graze of the king's calloused fingers on his throat made goosebumps come up across his skin. He managed to keep his face wooden. The king laughed and gave him the kind of up and down sweeping look that seemed like he was seeing through his clothes. 

"Heavy on the debauchery, it seems! I'd asked whether you enjoyed yourself but I think the answer is obvious!"

“Yes, my king,” he said, gritting his teeth. There were whispers behind him. Gods. It was still morning, and Costis already couldn't wait for this day to be over. 

::

"My dear," said the king as he sat down at the breakfast table. "Costis had a day off yesterday." His tone was that of a gleeful boy about to cause mischief. 

"Yes, I am given to understand that is how it works," said the queen mildly. She seemed absorbed in her breakfast. "I doubt I would have a guard at all if I didn't allow them a break once in awhile." Her tone was as dry as dust, but as she spoke, her eyes flicked toward Costis and one of her eyelids gave a minute twitch like a fraction of a wink. 

“Aren’t you going to ask Costis if he enjoyed his day off?”

The queen looked across the table at the king and raised a silent eyebrow. After a moment, she turned to Costis. He swallowed, aware that she was as observant as the king in her own way. 

“Did you enjoy your day off, Costis?”

“Yes, my queen,” he said. 

She gave a rare smile, apparently genuinely pleased.

“How nice.”

::

Aris sat down across from him with his dinner.

“Costis, what in the name of the gods happened? I have heard from five separate people that you have a secret sweetheart who you went to meet on your day off.”

Costis groaned and dropped his head to the table. 

"Where did they even get the idea?” Aris continued. “If ever I've known a man wedded to his job, it's you, Costis."

Costis winced and made the tactical decision not to respond. There was a pause, and then Aris said, in a measured tone: "Unless, of course, the rumors are true and you _do_ have a secret lover."

"Er," said Costis, "the thing is--"

"Gods above," said Aris, apparently to no one in particular. "I never knew."

Guilt twinged in Costis's chest. He'd always felt bad keeping secrets from Aris. 

"I didn't mean to hide it," he offered. "I just...I didn't want to be distracted. My first loyalty is still to the king and queen, and the Guard. If any of the king's enemies thought I had a weakness..."

They were both silent. It had happened before, in the first years of Attolia’s rule. A guard’s lover held against the guard’s cooperation in a plot to kill the queen. He had been stopped by his fellows in the attempt, and the queen had him executed. 

"I understand,” said Aris. “And I understand why you wouldn’t want to talk about it in this snakepit of a palace. So long as it's someone who will treat you right,” he concluded, and hesitated, as if struck by something. "It's not one of the queen's attendants, is it? Not even you would be that stupid. She would have your head."

"No," said Costis in complete honesty. "It's not one of the queen's attendants."

::

It was a relief to return to the solitude of his quarters at the end of the day. He sat heavily on his cot and shed his armor, rolling the tension out of his shoulders. With a sigh, he propped his feet on a stool and sat back to doze, listening with half an ear to the sounds of the palace around him. 

When everything had more or less quieted for the night, he left his quarters and headed back toward the main area of the palace, quiet as he could be. It was a meandering walk, away from the well-traveled areas and the routes guards might observe, and he counted turns under his breath until he reached the right door. 

The queen looked up as he entered. She was sitting on the bed, the king lying with his head in her lap. 

“Costis,” said the king, lifting his head. “How was your day?” 

Costis could swear he saw the queen’s mouth twitch. He looked at the ceiling.

“Far be it from me to question my king,” he said, "but did you really have to humiliate me to the _whole_ palace?" He was only half-angry, the embarrassment fading in the face of the warmth in his chest.

The king burst out laughing, and the queen definitely broke into a smile. Costis wrestled off his boots and came somewhat tentatively toward the bed. The queen reached out a hand to draw him down next to her. 

“I hear from my husband you have a sweetheart in town,” she said, amusement rich in her voice. 

“My queen, do you really believe him?” said Costis solemnly. “It’s well known you cannot trust the word of a thief.” 

“How fortunate,” said the queen over the king’s protests. “I thought perhaps you had found someone else."

Costis bent his head.

"Never, my queen," he said hoarsely. "Only you." He found the king's smiling mouth pressed against his own, and he fell into bed between them.


End file.
